According to Iceland's national power utility Landsvirkjun, the British decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) is likely to delay the development of the IceLink, a proposed 1,000 km power interconnection between the United Kingdom (UK) and Iceland, as the UK will focus on other more priority projects.
The United Kingdom and Iceland are considering developing a 1,200-km, 1 GW long power interconnection that would enable the UK to import 5-6 TWh/year of electricity from Iceland, where nearly 100% of power generation is renewable (from hydropower). This would be enough to cover the electricity consumption of 1.6 million British homes.
The project was initially proposed in 2012 but remained in limbo, before being revived in late 2015. Total investment in onshore transmission upgrade and offshore construction is estimated at €3-3.5bn. If developed, the subsea power interconnection would take seven to ten years to build. The project could be commissioned around 2027.